


Big Sky

by abearinthewoods



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Animal Death, Blood and Gore, Drug Use, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, I'll give a warning before each chapter, Mental Health Issues, Most of these tags will be applied to later chapters, Physical Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-03
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-01-08 12:36:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12254517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abearinthewoods/pseuds/abearinthewoods
Summary: Lena "Hardcore Punk" Luthor has returned to her hometown in rural northeast Montana following her father's death and finds a charming blonde cowgirl named Kara Danvers.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I recently got back into writing fic after YEARS of not doing so and I started writing this out just because it was fun and I figured I might as well just publish what I've written.
> 
> A lot of the warnings and tags for this fic aren't going to really apply until I delve into the nitty gritty in later chapters
> 
> PS, basically everyone is gay alright

Lena Luthor put out her cigarette on the bottom of her boot and threw the butt into a nearby trashcan that was once a 50 gallon steel barrel. How rustic, she thought. She squinted into the afternoon sun and gawked at the great expanse of blue sky before her. The deep blue was clear with a few straggling clouds and the air was fresh with the familiar scent of dirt, horses, and cattle. The fence supporting her weight was cold. 

She wasn’t happy about being back in her hometown, however. In fact she hated it and was stressed out ever since she got the goddamn phone call about a week ago. 

Some cop called her saying that her father, "crossed the railroad tracks across from his favorite bar just in time to meet the 9:30 freighter." As much as she spent prior years wanting her biological father to meet his demise in a gruesome and bloody way, she wasn't prepared for the responsibilities that came with his head rolling down the highway and his limbs splayed in various locations in the ditch. 

Throughout the entire 9 hour drive across the massive state, she couldn't help but wonder if the violence associated with his passing was justified for his inability to speak up when Lillian was...being something less than human. Lena eventually concluded that Lillian deserved this ending far more. Even if Lionel was her biological father but it still didn't mean that Lena had to go to the funeral service of someone that couldn't care less if she was alive. Lillian is probably, unfortunately, still kicking and leaching off of some other family far away from here, thought to herself again. Lena spat bitterly through the fence and into the empty rodeo arena before her and her gaze fell upon a few cowboys on horseback in the distance that were herding cows, coercing them all to come to the small pasture closest to the arena. 

"Rodeo don't start till 7 and it ain't no damn rock concert." A gruff voice spouted from behind Lena. 

Lena turned to see who it was and saw that the voice came from a mustached man in a white cowboy hat who was folding shirts on a table under the covered bleachers and giving her a condescending look. She didn't recognize him and he obviously didn't recognize her and she was just fine with that. 

She walked over to him confidently, "I'm here to talk to Maggie Sawyer? I don't know who she is or what she looks like but I'm supposed to meet her here?" 

The man in the white stetson looked Lena up and down in the same condescending stare before he reached for the radio attached to his hip. "Maggie, there's some girl here wanting to talk to you, we're at the front gate," the static from the radio snapping quiet as he released his hold on the communication button. The radio patched through to another voice, "Yeah, I'll be there in a second, don't let her go anywhere." The man returned the radio to his hip, gave another ounce of his look, and then returned to folding shirts and placing them out on the table. 

Lena rubbed her hands on the front of her pants, feeling the bumpy stitches of the patches holding the grungy garment together. He was rude but Lena was well acquainted with people being complete jackasses to the point that it no longer made any sort of impact. She figured that dwelling on people's negativity was pointless. She stuck a hand deep into her pocket feeling for nothing in particular while the other hand mindlessly went to rotate the gauge in her ear. A silent moment passed and a woman in a Montana Highway Patrol uniform sauntered over to the table, a stoic look on her face. Her hair was in a tight pony tail, and for being rather short, she was still super intimidating. 

"Are you Lena?" The trooper gazed at Lena's choice of battered black band tee before making eye contact, not giving away what she really was thinking about her choice of apparel. Lena nodded and Maggie shook her head slightly and let out a short sigh, "Oh lord." Maggie motioned for Lena to follow her and Lena skeptically did. 

They quietly walked the short distance together to the new looking building on this property and went inside. Lena sat down at the small card table and Maggie finally spoke. "So as you know, your father has passed and that makes you, by default, the owner of his possessions," Maggie grabbed a mug off of a shelf and filled it with coffee from the maker plugged into the wall, "And since your older brother is doing several life sentences in the state penitentiary without any chance of parole, you are also the official owner of the family business. Coffee?" Lena shook her head in a polite decline. Maggie sat down in the vacant chair across from her, Lena's face expressionless, "There are options. You could always sell the property or hire people to run it for you since Lionel was in charge." 

Lena knew that becoming the owner and manager of a very large bit of land with a profitable business in ranching and farming was one of those responsibilities that came with her father's death. She had known this fact since Lex's mugshot was plastered all over the front page of the Billings Gazette and local newspapers for several years following his story and eventual conviction for exploiting and murdering several people. Even though she knew this situation was to take place in her future, she never thought that her father's issues with alcoholism would take him so suddenly. Lena took the black and dusty stetson off of her head and placed it onto the table. 

"Well, Officer, that's why I'm here. I wanted to come see the assets for myself before making any sort of decision." 

The officer tapped the side of her coffee cup with a finger, "I'll arrange to have someone give you a tour of the place then, sometime tomorrow of course." 

"Of course," Lena stated indifferently. 

__________ 

It was only a couple more hours until the rodeo and Kara Danvers was admittedly shaking in her boots. The reigns in her hands felt heavy and stuck to her palms, her knuckles white. Her and her sister Alex were just outside the corral connecting to the main arena, just watching the calves mill about within. 

"Kara, you'll do fine, it's the same shit that we practiced back on the farm." Alex noticed Kara's death grip to the leather straps and gave a reassuring smile to Kara who was also saddled atop her horse, "...but just in front of several hundred people this time." 

Kara pushed her glasses farther up the bridge of her nose and pushed her stetson back farther on her head, allowing herself to ease slightly, "It's gonna be weird without him here," she scrunched up her face, "I was never close to him but he was the one that taught me all of the things I know about," she motioned her arms around at the horse below her, the rope around the saddle horn, and just everywhere in general. 

Alex chuckled at Kara's movements and leaned back in her saddle, "I still think that Lionel was kinda creepy. Although I think all he did was give decent tips and tricks. You really taught yourself though." Kara felt some confident trickle into her and she let the blood return to her knuckles. "I can't speak for Lionel, but I know that mom and dad would be proud of you. I'm proud of you, Kara." 

The soft moment was cut short by the blonde who strode in behind them on her freshly groomed horse. She didn't pay attention to the two outside the calf pen who were taking a gander at this newcomer, but very obviously had her eyes set on the two cowboys who were leaning against a bucking chute. The sash and the matching pink leather chaps over her denim jeans read "Miss Rodeo Montana" and Alex let out a huff. "She's gonna be very disappointed when she finds out those two are not gonna want anything to do with her." 

"Alex, you're assuming things," Kara continued to watch the blonde slowly stride away, "She's probably just gonna ask where the lineup is gonna be." 

"Uh huh, if that's all she asks, I'm eat my hat." Kara waved her off with a hand. 

They watched the girl talk with her hands and James, the taller cowboy, ended up pointing in the direction of where the lineup would be with an outstretched arm, his brown skin slightly casting a sheen with sweat in the sunlight. Kara turned around to give Alex a look to rub her correct assumption in but Alex simply just pointed to redirect the attention. The James and the shorter, nerdier looking cowboy, Winn, ended up holding hands and Miss Rodeo Montana visibly sulked into her saddle as she rode off towards the lineup gate. 

Alex moved her horse around Kara's and started her way towards the two cowboys before calling back, "It's not being eaten today." 

Kara shook her head and moved the hat back to where it was firmly sitting on her head, the brim low above eyes. Footsteps caught Kara's attention and she saw Maggie walking over, looking slightly more enthused than she was earlier this morning. Maggie probably finally found the coffee fix she was complaining about not having. 

"You just missed her," Kara looked down at the Trooper who was now leaning against the gate in front of her. 

"I'll catch up with her, I just came to tell you that you need to be at the Luthor ranch bright and early tomorrow morning to show the new owner around." 

Kara felt more added pressure to the build up that was already there. "Did you meet them? Do I know them?" 

"Yeah, I met them. No, you don't know them. She's....something you really wouldn't expect," Maggie gave a wink, smirked and walked off to go trail after Alex who was now bullshitting with James and Winn. 

Kara has learned that Maggie, much like Alex, is a great bullshitter. Another reason why they are so good together. Kara could usually see through the deadpan expressions but this time, Kara wasn't too sure if Maggie was yanking her chain or not and she ultimately blamed her nerves for even considering that the cop was being honest. 

__________ 

Lena parked her truck under the set of trees that the short Trooper pointed her towards earlier. By the time the rodeo ends tonight, it would be too dark to travel out into the country and be shown the property anyways. She turned the engine off and sat there for a moment. Her large jet black German Shepherd mix named Spike was panting in the passenger seat, eager to be let out. She opened up her door and hopped out, Spike soon following. He followed closely at her heels of her combat boots and they both walked to the door of the ancient red horse trailer hitched to the back of the truck. The door to the horse trailer creaked as Lena heaved it open and Spike quickly ran in, hopped onto the already set up cot covered with an elk hide and waited patiently for her to sit too. Lena sat down on the cot next to him and leaned against the sticker covered wall behind her. She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the full effects of how groggy the long drive made her. She sat there for a few minutes, wondering if she should join the rest of the town and county in participating in watching the rodeo tonight. She looked at the familiar band stickers coating, stolen road sign, and flag draping the roof of the trailer, and decided that she would only go because there wasn't much else to do otherwise.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yehaw

Kara Danvers leapt from her speeding calico quarter horse and onto the fleeing calf a few paces ahead. She used the steer's horns as a place to grab onto, and used her weight to throw the animal off course. Kara felt the calf lose balance and tumble down, bringing her with to the soft dirt that was the arena grounds. She was officially finished with the first of two events today. 

She dug her palms into the warm dirt and heaved herself up, the calf already being led briskly away by Miss Rodeo Montana to the pen and her Paint escorted out to the pasture by Alex. The audience in the stands loudly cheered as she arose but they cheered even louder when the announcer situated in the booth above the bucking chutes said that there was no starting penalty and that Kara Danvers was now in second place on the scoreboard. They were excited for their local lady steer wrestler to do so well. 

Kara bent down to pick up her white Stetson that flew off during the dismount, shook the dirt off and placed it back securely on her head. She turned to saunter off towards the exit of the arena, feeling a bruise already forming on her chest from one of the steer's horns that she rammed into on impact. With a passing glance into the excited crowd, she spotted a peculiar, but gorgeous looking girl with black hair and a black hat. Her bright smile left the cowgirl wide-eyed and reeling. Kara Danvers would even go as far as to say that this girl in the stands was by far the prettiest she's ever seen with her own two eyes, even slightly blurry as this girl may be without the aid of glasses. 

The ogling was cut short when several gloved hands patted Kara on the back as she passed through the exit gate and voices congratulating sprang up around her on a "damn fine take down" as one of the volunteer worker eagerly put it. A big dopey smile was on her face and she felt proud of herself, allowing the pent up stress and anxiety prior to this event to be forgotten. 

Kara pushed through and broke away from the throng of people at the gate and walked behind all the bucking chutes to the small group of cowboys that were getting the supplies for the upcoming wild horse race collected and organized. Feeling that they had their ducks in a row and didn't need Kara to direct their efforts, she found a chute that wasn't crowded and climbed up to straddle the side gate. Her chest felt sore and achy. 

Alex rode over on her dark brown Morgan and produced a pair of glasses that was tucked into the inside pocket of the uniform vest, "Thought that you would like to see." Kara grabbed the glasses, put them on and tried to look for the cutie that she saw in the crowd. "Hey, are you alright...Kara?" Alex tried to get the attention of her sister. 

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," Kara said finally but continued to scan the crowd but wasn't having any luck finding the girl. 

Alex looked her up and down with squinted eyes, "You sure? You landed on that calf a little too close to-," her face softened, "oh you saw someone didn't you?" Alex knew perfectly well how Kara reacted to seeing pretty girls and she was showing some very obvious signs. 

"I may have...but it seems that I have lost her," Kara gave up looking and was met with the smug look on her sister's face. 

"She'll probably show up again," Alex craned her neck to see the rodeo clown chase after Miss Rodeo Montana on her horse. He was failing miserably at keeping up. 

Kara wanted to believe Alex but people that come to the rodeo never seem to be who they present themselves as or they don't stick around long enough for their true colours to really shine through. There were always a lot of cowboy cosplayers that showed up trying to look the part but never knew anything substantial. This made itself very evident in Kara's previous years of attending the rodeo and all of the outside festivities that come with it. This girl was probably another one of the many yuppies that follow the scent of free booze and sex. In this case, that was perfectly fine with Kara. 

This time of year was always fleeting in this seemingly liminal space anyways. The energy and activity that surges into the small town like a defibrillator on someone who is suffering through a heart attack always dies down the following weeks until it ramps up again a month or so before the cycle starts all over again. It's nothing more than a powerful jolt to shudder the community back to life. A laborious cycle. And no matter how much Kara has wanted people to stay, just to see fresh faces around town or new people to have lasting experiences with, they leave and Kara has learned the hard way to not grow attached. She's annually coped with the cycle through just drunkenly fucking the prettiest girl that the rodeo has drug in. 

She was brought back into the moment when she heard James and Winn's names being spoken by the announcer. Heavy metal music played as two horses carrying her friends were in hot pursuit of a calf on the run. Winn's twirling lasso hooked around the horns of the animal and James' lasso snagged the two hind legs of the young Charolais steer, successfully completing their team roping run. Alex and Kara cheered for them exuberantly as the scoreboard showed their names in the third-place spot. 

"Honestly, that's some relationship goals!" Kara bellowed her words to get her voice to cut through the exhilarated screams of people in the stands nearby. Alex nodded her head with a grin but went back to watching a new pair of team ropers get ready for their turn. Kara scanned the crowd once more in between each pair of cattlemen chasing after a runaway calf. Each search into the sea of people was futile. 

After the last pair missed their moving, four-legged target, Kara's eyes swept one last time before she swung her leg over and hopped down inside the chute. Now it was time to give her horse a warm up before her next event. It felt like her chest managed to hurt even more. 

The announcer briskly introduced the auctioneer who then went straight to rambling rhythmically in the betting of what team would win the wild horse race. Kara walked past the colour-coded cowboys who were getting ready by yelling at their appointed teammates about the surefire plans to win the event. Kara couldn't help but let out a snort after hearing one of the riders telling a rope anchor to "just fucking lay down and dig your heels into the goddamn ground." She envisioned all the times she's seen a desperate rope anchor being willingly drug around the arena by a never slowing wild horse, all the while the rest of his team doing nothing to assist. The anchors only let go after their clothing and/or mouth filled with dirt or the buzzer alerted that time was up. 

Once to the fence of the pasture, she found her brown and white Paint mingling with the other horses. The air was sweet, the sun was setting low in the west and a slight breeze came from the north. She felt some anxiety returning for the upcoming race. It crept slowly and she gulped it down as she threaded herself through the barbwire fence. 

"Marvin!" Kara hollered for her horse and also gave a whistle to call him over. He trotted forwards and Kara went to meet him halfway. He was swift and nimble, even for an animal his size. He was incredibly agile, attentive, and never seemed to never run out of energy. The race was of course to determine who was the fastest, but it is rarely executed that simply. Ultimately it came down to how well the rider could control the beast under her and how well the beast could handle the ground below it. Marvin was perfectly capable of all that the race entails. However, at times back on the farm, he had a tendency to prod about to look at the scenery. Kara felt like that was just a part of his personality: to be sassy when he could away with it outside of work. But now, Kara felt as if he knew that it was about to be show time once again. 

Once meeting him, she gave his muzzle a pat, grabbed the reigns that were hanging over the side and hoisted herself up into the worn leather saddle. She gently ran her hands through the thick white hair of his mane at the base of his neck, "You know the drill, buddy." 

Marvin started to walk slowly then quickly shot into a faster speed, his hind legs jolting into action after dull boot spurs nipped. Kara hunched forward to center her weight in the seat and they propelled into the grasslands before them. 

They weaved effortlessly through the unimpressed livestock that was distributed back into the pasture from events prior. Kara closed her eyes and felt the wind whip through her hair, the impact of each hoof-beat to prairie land below like a drum as they traveled further out into the expanse. She felt like this was the closest that anyone could ever come to naturally flying without superpowers. 

She reopened her eyes and looked up into the clear setting sky. It was dark enough to see stars shining in the east but the atmosphere lightened the more west her eyes traveled until they were squinting into the mostly hidden sun. She bid Marvin to slow down and then gave the reigns a gentle yank in the direction of the rodeo grounds so they could start their leisurely trip back. 

____   
There were five other girls on horseback, walking their horses around together in a pack close to the chutes, chatting amongst themselves. One of the ladies, wearing a light pink button-up dress shirt saw Kara and motioned her over to join the group. Kara did because she was curious as to what they were talking about and whether or not it pertained to her. 

"They told me," the redhead waved to the announcer's box, "to tell you that they switched the line up again so you're officially going to go last." The brunette atop a dark grey pony chimed in, beaming a big smile, "Hey good job with the steer earlier. It was badass and I've never seen a woman do it before so that was cool." 

"Perfect, that's just what I wanted," Kara tipped her hat to the brunette in thanks and Marvin hiked his head up and let out a snort, "Good luck, ladies." Kara smiled sincerely and broke away from the pack of other contenders to continue walking her horse on her own. It's not that she didn't think that they were fine people and all, it was just a routine to warmup and stay out on her own, it's what she was used to. 

____ 

The timer wouldn't start until the rider and her horse passed the sensor. 

Kara trotted Marvin up to the length of alley designed for the riders to build up speed. The lights of the open-air arena were almost blinding against the pitch black of the now night sky. Coming to a charging pace was effortless and Kara bolted past the sensor, hunched over the saddle horn. After passing the tripod holding up the equipment, Kara immediately signaled it was time to change course for the barrel on the right. The object of barrel racing is to race around a trio of blue 50 gallon barrels placed in a triangular position without knocking any of them down; knocking down a barrel would result in a penalty that added time. The rider could go to either barrel on the right or the left and Kara trained Marvin to instinctively just go for the right one. Upon reaching it, Kara shifted her weight and moved her right leg back, allowing Marvin to scoot deftly by as his back legs sunk into the soft arena floor and propelled them ahead to the next barrel in a figure 8 formation. After the next seamless turn around the second barrel, they darted to the last and Kara could only feel the side of it through her jeans as Marvin adeptly hustled past. Kara leaned forward again to center her weight for the last straight stretch to the alley and passed the sensor and the other mounted cowgirls in a blur. 

She rode into the pasture ahead as the powerhouse of an animal slowed and the announcer boomed that Kara's short ride time shot her straight to first place. The crowd's raucous and drunken applause felt like it was miles away as Kara became overwhelmed with a whirlwind of emotions and hot, happy tears came streaking down her cheeks. Alex rode over to hold her, legs still straddling the saddle and boots deep into the stirrups. 

Kara couldn't help but weep into Alex's shoulder. They both needed the embrace to be longer but the horses underneath them were insistently fidgeting around, trying to move elsewhere. The hug was forced apart but Alex kept her horse close enough for her to hold onto Kara's arm. Kara saw that Alex's cheeks were also streaming with tears but a happy smile was spread across her face. 

"Go unsaddle and I'll meet you out front but I have to go back to pretending I'm helping, ok?" Alex rubbed her arm reassuringly and watched Kara bob her head before trotting off. Kara wiped away stray tears with the sleeve of her shirt whilst slowly making her way to the horse trailer. 

If Kara thought her smile after successfully taking down a steer was dopey, this was even more so. 

She received more congratulations and nice comments from the same crowd of cowboys huddled around the perimeter as she passed. The darkness became thicker the father away she rode from the bright lamps and she noticed a rusty red horse trailer attached to a rather dinged up blue truck parked next to her much newer looking means of transport. That wasn't there this morning and she wondered who it belonged to since the other vehicles in the lot were recognizable except for this one. The faint outline of a large black dog lying in the shadows outside the red trailer glanced back at her. A bright neon orange collar slightly reflected the arena lights that managed to reach this far was the only thing that could be definitively seen. 

Kara brought herself down from Marvin and began to expertly loosen all of the buckles and straps of leather that kept the saddle and rigging in place, eventually heaving the mountainous pile of gear from her horse and transferring it to the confines of the trailer in one trip. Marvin didn't need to be ushered inside the trailer as he went of his own volition and Kara was grateful that she didn't have to entice. He was the type of horse to pout about having to be trailered but she figured that he was tired from working all day and just wanted to eat some hay in peace. 

"I'll be back in a few hours, bud," she closed the trailer door and latched it, "I don't intend on being out for very long," She came around to the side that Marvin was facing and stuck her hand through the metal slits to scratch one of his ears since she couldn't reach for his face that was already buried in oats and straw.


	3. Chapter 3

The ride from the rodeo grounds was brief. Also, incredibly cramped. Sitting in the backseat of a police cruiser behind the bullet proof divider and the metal mesh covered side window wasn't supposed to be comfortable for anyone being detained. Even though it was just Maggie giving her and Alex a ride to the bar, she felt like a prisoner all the same. Her boots were sufficiently stuck in the small leg space. Along with Kara feeling constricted from the narrow confines of the cage around her, she felt a jealous knot sitting in the pit of her stomach from the two women holding hands in the front. The relationship that Maggie and Alex had usually never bothered her but with the day's victories, the tangle in her innards made itself known and wound tighter the longer she was around the married couple. It had been a long day. 

Maggie pulled up under the sidewalk lights of a community bank, a half-block away from the edge of the street dance, "I'm sorry I can't come with you guys. I would if I weren't on call and if there wasn't a large stack of paperwork on the kitchen table." 

"Being on call has never stopped you from partying before?" Alex joked and Kara watched Maggie glare. 

"Not even, now get out before doofus sees my car and thinks that he can come over and try to talk to me," Maggie motioned to the city policeman that was leaning up against a barricade in the middle of the street. He was blatantly flirting with a group of women that were not impressed. 

"What? You don't want to talk to someone who was beat with a frozen deer leg?" Alex jabbed again and got out of the car to let her sister out of the back and Kara swore she could hear Maggie roll her eyes. 

Kara's feet were so stuck that she had to slip out of her boots and stand on the pavement in her socks to tug the footwear out. 

Maggie leaned back in the drivers seat to watch Kara struggle, a wide grin on her face from Alex's' teasing. "Har har. I'll see you guys later, love the both of you and be safe." 

Kara was finally able to recover both of her items and Alex blew Maggie a kiss before they both shut the doors in unison. They stood on the brightly lit sidewalk, Kara still in only her socks, and watched the tail lights of the Dodge Charger turn around the corner. Both women stood silently for a moment, as if they were appreciating the calm before the drunken storm. 

Kara looked to her sister, "I'm not drinking tonight, I hope you know that." 

Alex looked confused and then met her sister's gaze, "And why the fuck not?" 

"I have to go back to the house tonight," Kara dropped her boots to the ground and stuffed her feet inside, "I'm supposed to go to the Luthor place in the morning and give a tour of the place to the owner." 

There was a pout in Alex's face as she watched her sister fix her jeans, "Well shit. I guess I'm not supposed to be drinking either since I have work tomorrow." 

They both looked over to the party that made the town's main street look packed in comparison to the normal day-to-day desolation present at any other time of the year. Most of the bars were overflowing with people which forced a lot of the population out onto the pavement, drinks in hand and slowly shuffling in various rhythms to the beat of the band on the flatbed trailer positioned in the middle of the road. 

There was a groan that came out from the redhead, "I'm drinking anyways, c'mon, let's go see if we can find those assholes that ditched us." 

Alex stormed ahead into the street and Kara stepped up pace to keep up. 

________ 

Lena had counted two beers. Two beers that had accidentally spilled on her throughout the rodeo. The first beer came from the older woman beside Lena and the second brew came from the overweight man behind her wearing boots that were too new for ranching to be his actual job. Other than the alcohol being poured all over her, Lena had a decent time but was slightly irritable from sleep deprivation and lag of the journey. 

Lena was in the middle of the campground when Spike came over to meet her. The dog rubbed his face into her thigh, wanting an ear scratch and Lena complied, feeling the soft hair for only a moment before he decided that would suffice before going on ahead to the trailer. Lena removed her hat and peeled off the dirty shirt outside and sluggishly tossed it in as she entered behind her pet. She shut the trailer door and hung her hat up from the crude hook on the wall before collapsing into the cot face first, not even bothering to untie her tightly laced combat boots. The elk pelt laid out under her was coarse and thick against her bare stomach and the residual smell of smoke from the curing process invited her in for a deep slumber. 

She was on the precipice of unconsciousness until a loud knock came from the trailer parallel to hers, sending a jolt of pure adrenaline through her body as she was forced fully awake. In the throes of panic, she instinctively shoved her hand under the cot and unsheathed a large Bowie knife as she moved onto her side to face whatever was outside with full lethal attentiveness. Her heart pounded hard under her ribs and she forced her breathing to shallow so she could listen for movement outside. The blade slightly trembled in her hand as it was pointed to the trailer door. There was only stillness. The silence became longer and Lena suddenly realized where she was. The sound was obviously just a horse kicking the inside of the trailer next to hers. She collapsed back into the cot, knife still in hand and dangling over the edge of the bed. She turned her head and saw Spike's unimpressed expression as he laid upon the pile of dirty laundry in his spot on the floor. 

"Don't look at me like that. You weren't there for the bear a couple months ago." 

The black dog laid his head back down and Lena pushed her face back into the fur as her heart rate eventually went back to normal. The rush of energy chased all of the drowsiness away. Lena knew that sleep would be impossible for several more hours, no matter how motionless she laid on top of her fur bedding. The knife slid easily back into its sheath and Lena arose to sit on the edge of the cot. A sigh was trapped behind her hands and she reached for a clean shirt from the backpack nearby. 

"I'll be back," she mumbled to the dog as she pulled the material over her head and brushed her hair back before replacing the black hat back onto her head. Her boots crunched into the gravel of the campground as she shut the door behind her. Even with the sun no longer in the sky and the stars shining brightly in the heavens, the air was still warm and sticky. The campground itself was quiet but the carnival set up in the pasture across the nearby dirt road was noisy with mechanical sounds, upbeat music playing through blown out speakers, and the screams of the people on the ride that went upside-down. Lena wasn't in the mood for a carnival that looked to have the target audience of only children and the irritable adults that had to accompany them. 

She hopped the perimeter of the campground and started the relatively short walk past the carnival and on the dirt road into town. The thrumming of the carnival lessened with the distance traveled and the frogs in the adjacent marshy ditch croaked in replacement. That soon too was succeed with the cadence of the live band playing for the party. During the rodeo, Lena overheard many conversations that consisted of people getting shitfaced sometime tonight, or meeting up with other people, or just taking advantage of the 24-hour food stands that popped up. At the time Lena didn't see herself showing up but here she was, flanking this shindig and then emerging into the crowd that was easy to navigate through. 

The crowd of people wearing various assortments of western wear threw a few looks every now and again because of her choice in attire but she aimlessly meandered around just the same, not looking for anything in particular. In a way it was fun to soak in the easy and drunken environment of the party - to watch people interact stupidly with one another was a cheap form of entertainment. 

After witnessing a couple of drunk cowboys yelling at one another over something that Lena couldn't decipher through their garbled speech, Lena decided to pick a bar to hover around in, hopefully out of the way of drunken idiots threatening to fight one another. The decision was quickly made but as she made her way over, a short blonde bumped into her, spilling a clear liquid down the front of her sideless black shirt, making that 3 things that spilled on her in less than three hours. Lena recognized her as Miss Rodeo Montana from the shirt even though there was no sash stating her title. 

"Oh my God, I am so, so, so sorry!" The blonde looked like she made a gigantic mistake and it left her terrified. 

"It's no problem, I've had so many things spilled on me today that it's really no big deal." Lena tried to comfort this girl, and she wanted to assure her that there was no beef to be had. 

The blonde went from looking wide-eyed and ready to bolt to just plain embarrassed. "At least let me help you clean up. I can buy you a drink for all of the trouble?" 

Lena couldn't help but feel bad even though she was the one standing there with a soggy shirt, "Yeah, ok, sure." A free drink also didn't sound too shabby either. 

The blonde cowgirl looked slightly relieved as she grabbed Lena by the wrist and led her through the crowd outside the nearby bar and into the bathroom. The bathroom was surprisingly empty and Lena leaned up against a sink as the blonde went straight to the paper towel dispenser, grabbing a fistful and coming back over. The girl was slightly shaking as Lena watched her begin to try and sop up what she could from the front of Lena's shirt. 

Lena held out her hand, "I could do it myself, y'know." Now Lena couldn't help but feel slightly amused at how deep in the throes of embarrassment this young lady was in. 

"Oh. Right. Gosh. I am so glad this is only water," the blonde transferred the clump of towels into Lena's outstretched hand and went back to the paper towel dispenser to get another wad. 

Lena smirked and began to pat the front of her shirt, "So what is your name Miss Rodeo? I couldn't hear over the jackoffs behind me having a very loud discussion over boat motors behind me. Did you know that most people put the trolling motors on the front of the boat instead of the back?" Lena glanced up to see the flustered girl crack a sincere looking smile as she was handed a new clump of towels. 

"Oh, my name is Eve, and I guess I never thought about it," the blonde tossed the used towels away, "Aren't you that one State Representative's daughter? I think I saw you once before when my class had a field trip to the capitol building." 

Lena couldn't help but let out a groan as she tossed the paper towels in her hand away. "Yeah, that was probably me. That must've been a long while ago because I haven't been too welcomed there ever since the incident." 

A couple of girls in flower print sundresses barged in, drinks in hand and stumbling through the door. There was a hint of worry on Eve's face and Lena wasn't sure it was from the newcomers. 

"Incident?" Eve moved aside as the girls shuffled to one of the stalls. One of them violently burst through a stall door and loud retching began to echo throughout the bathroom. 

Lena became queasy from the loud guttural sounds and motioned to the door, "Let's take this conversation outside." 

They left the bathroom and rushed into the busy bar, the front of Lena's shirt was still slightly damp but it wouldn't take long for the garment to completely be dry. Lainey pointed out vacant stools at the bar and Lena followed her over. Once they were seated, it became a waiting game as the multiple bartenders were running around to serve the flood of customers. 

"So what's the incident? If you don't mind me asking," Eve was trying to make eye contact with one of the bar hands to let them know they haven't been served yet. 

Lena pondered for a moment, wondering if spilling private information was something worth doing with a stranger. Normally, Lena didn't care what she said to the unknown people that would always remain strangers. It was essentially harmless and it offered a release of pressure to bottled up feelings. 

"I got caught fucking a senator's daughter." Lena deadpanned and watched for Eve's response. Whenever she let this bit of information slip, the faces of others were pretty unpredictable and oftentimes amusing. In this case, Eve's expression was completely expected. 

The blonde's eyes went wide and met Lena's, "No. Way." 

"Hm and not the first or the last time I was shot at either." 

Eve's jaw slightly dropped in surprise. Lena couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the wild face journey of Miss Rodeo Montana. 

"Being involved with the rodeo and traveling to new towns has exposed me to some seriously crazy ass stories but that is by far the wildest thing." 

One of the bartenders appeared in front of them, looking almost winded. "May I take your order?" 

Eve ordered first and she described something so fruity and sweet that it made Lena's teeth hurt thinking about it. Lena ordered a shot of whatever Irish whiskey they had left and a bottle of beer. The bartender ran off to fulfill the order and Lena scanned the room to see what kind of crowd type this bar brought in. The music from outside could barely be heard over the combination of loud conversations happening around her. Lena's eyes settled onto the small group of people in the corner of the bar who were raucously laughing and howling? The two cowboys of the group were trying to keep one another from tilting over in complete drunkenness and giggles as the red head chuckled to herself and the blonde with glasses looked on. The blonde visibly shook her head, still laughing at the intoxicated individuals and pandered around to see if they were drawing unecessary attention to themselves. Lena made eye contact with the stranger who quickly darted her eyes elsewhere as if her gaze wasn't lingering. 

The bartender returned and Lainey excitedly grabbed her red drink as Lena coolly slammed back the dark liquid in the tiny glass and left it turned over on the counter in front of her. The whiskey pleasantly burned the entire way down to her empty gut and Lena twisted off the bottlecap to her beer before slipping the cap into a pocket of her pants. 

"So, what brings you to this side of the state? I can hardly believe a rodeo would make someone drive all that way from Helena," Eve swirled her red drink with an equally just as red straw. 

Lena thought a moment, "I've suddenly acquired a large amount of land in the past week." Lena took a long pull from the bottle. 

Eve's eyes watched her for a moment, searching for what that means exactly. "So....did you buy it or...?" 

Lena gently set the butt of the bottle back onto the counter, "My father died." She looked over to Eve who was wondering what this statement meant too, as if her question didn't actually answer anything and only left her intrigued for more. "It's a long story." Lena didn't want to get into telling her life story to someone who was this interested. She let out a short sigh as she looked over again to the group in the corner. The blonde was looking back at Lena but quickly looked away again. Lena couldn't help but wonder how long this girl was staring but Lena returned her attention to the bottle in front of her. 

"Don't look now but do you know that group of people over there?" Lena nonchalantly turned the bottle in a circle once before meeting Eve's eyes. 

Eve slowly turned her head around as if she was just getting a lay of the room before she too saw the group in the corner. Eve quickly turned around and faced Lena again. "Earlier I talked to the two dudes about where the lineup was, the redhead was one of the pickups, and the blonde did the steer wrestling and the barrel race. Why is one of them making eyes at you?" 

Lena glimpsed again at the group, this time not seeing anyone look at her. She really couldn't tell whether or not the steer wrestler was sizing her up or just taking an innocent gander. She looked harmless but those are the type that usually do the most damage. 

"The blonde has the demeanor of a golden retriever," Lena muttered aloud, mostly to herself. 

Eve nodded, "Go say something to her." 

Lena took a swig of the beer before forcing out, "I really don't want to go and bug them. I don't even know what I would really say?" she was quiet a moment, "Hey, do you want to go outside and check out the band with me?" 

Eve's lips pursed slightly and Lena could tell that she was slightly agitated with the changed the subject. Lena knew that Eve was the type to like the dramatics and the situation that could've panned out was detoured. 

"Sure, but I have to go find someone first," Eve smiled sincerely again as she picked up her things. 

________ 

After searching through multiple bars for James and Winn, the Danvers sisters finally found them in the last one that the downtown area had to offer. They were in the corner of the room attempting to play darts, a few stuck in the wall around the board. The distance between the darts sticking out of the wall and the board told the sisters that the boys were far from sober. Kara could see the irritation in Alex's expression. 

"You guys ditched us!" Alex walked over and Winn instinctively stepped behind James for cover. 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," James began, waving Alex off with a hand before he tossed his last dart, "We just wanted to save you guys a spot before the rest of the town came over." The dart stuck to the board. 

Alex looked at the darts in the wall, "You always this bad?" 

James feigned hurt feelings and Kara quickly moved aside to let a couple drunk girls pass to the bathroom, one of them looking like she was about to blow chunks right then and there. 

"I'm gonna go get you two a couple drinks." Winn moved around James and briskly walked to the bar. 

"Ok, but only the one for both of us, alright?" Alex called over to him but he didn't hear past the loudness of the bar around them. Kara heard someone leave the bathroom and she wondered if the sickly drunk girl was ok. 

James moved to the board to pluck out the lone dart, "Why are you guys not drinking?" 

"I have work and Kara is going back out to the farm tonight because she has to babysit." 

Kara had a cold plastic cup of beer shoved into her hand by Winn, "Babysitting? Like an actual baby?" 

Kara scuffed her boot into the wooden floorboards, "No, I have to show the new owner the place tomorrow." 

The boys seemed a little disappointed at the news and Alex's face was the same as the first time she heard it. 

"Oh. Do you know who it is?" Winn's voice was followed by the slapping sound of the dart hitting the board sideways. 

Kara set her beer down at the nearby table. "I was actually hoping one of you would know anything on the off chance. Really could be Bigfoot for all I know." 

Kara heard Winn mutter under his breath "that would be so cool" as he lugged another dart. Alex sipped the dark amber liquid in her glass and gave another example of a cryptid from which was "The Loch Ness Monster" and James choked in response. Soon the group was obnoxiously howling at the example of a werewolf and Kara suddenly realized how loud they had gotten. She looked around to give people the courtesy nod with the "I'm sorry we're loud assholes" smile to the other patrons in the bar. No one cared as they were also deep in their own conversations. Her eyes stopped at the sight of the familiar looking punk at the bar who was looking back at her but Kara quickly moved her gaze to someone else to prevent looking like she was caught staring. 

Soon the glance quickly registered in Kara’s mind and she shoved an elbow into Alex’s side as slyly as she could. 

"What, Kara?" Alex was a little testy as she was having a good giggle at whatever chicken dance Winn was basically performing for the whole bar. 

"She's here." 

Alex looked around, almost wildly, "Who?" 

"Alex calm down. The girl that I saw at the rodeo. The girl I couldn't find? Well she's sitting at the bar with Miss Rodeo." 

Alex eased into looking over that way towards the bar, "The punk girl? Kara, I didn't know that was your type?" 

Kara felt her ears go hot and turn a visible bright red, "I don't have a type, shut up." 

Alex was still peeking over that way but her eyes were moving towards the other people sitting at the bar, "She sure sticks out. I wonder what she's tryna pull." 

Kara couldn't help but look over again. This time the punk at the bar was deep in conversation with the cowgirl sitting next to her. For reasons that Kara was unsure of, she felt her heart sink into her stomach. Was she jealous of the other girl? 

The scuffed combat boots the punk was wearing had bright red laces on the right foot and deep blue ones on the other, and the pants she wore were faded but neatly stitched together with various political and band patches. Kara's eyes couldn't help but trail up to the exposed skin of her torso that the sideless black t-shirt revealed, and then to the black hair that the black hat sat upon. The hat had a few feathers sticking out from the band and from the distance, Kara wasn't sure what type of bird the feathers were from. 

She was well aware that there was a risk of getting caught with a prolonged gander at people and sure enough that was the exact case. The eye contact was only for a split second but it was enough to make Kara's breath catch in her throat. 

She felt her face go slightly hot but the flush was quickly proceeded by guilt. The jealous sinking feeling in her stomach somehow found a way to expand and gnaw deeper. But she tried hold it at bay by feigning interest in the conversation around her. However, she ached to just have another look at the person she'll probably never see again, just to commit some more details to memory, but didn't want to risk spooking her off. 

A few minutes trickled by, and Kara ended up looking over again. To her surprise the duo was nowhere to be seen, only empty stools left behind. Maybe she did spook them off after all? The same pang of guilt resounded in her again but this time Alex managed to catch the signs. 

"You alright?" 

Kara shifted uncomfortably. "Y-yeah, I'm fine." 

Alex's mouth scrunched to one side as her look became stern and was quiet a moment. 

"Go get her," Alex nudged her in the direction of the exit and Kara's legs unsteadily carried outside and into the busy street. 

Kara quickly caught a glimpse of her amongst the dressed-up community, the line of vision mostly obscured by the talking cowboys and the women on their arms that swayed easily to the music. The familiar stranger was standing alone, lightly bobbing her head to the beat, close to the makeshift stage. 

The band on the flatbed always played a set-list that alternated between annoying country, some catchy indie rock, and 90s alternative stuff that Kara knew because of Alex's rebellious teenage years. The countless nights of driving out to the middle of a nearby pasture and blaring Nirvana from the beat-up truck's stereo with her sister made her temporarily feel at ease with this situation. The music and the environment were familiar, but Kara couldn't help but have second thoughts and wonder if carrying herself back inside with her tail tucked was the best option. But something deep inside her compelled her forward. 

Funny, she thought, that she could jump from a speeding horse with ease but this was something that proved to be a challenge. 

________ 

Lena watched the band that crowded the long trailer. They weren't bad but they also weren't all that good in her opinion. Nonetheless, Lena couldn't help but absentmindedly bob around to the music, watching the guitarists strum along to the beat the drummer was padding out. A grimace couldn't be easily held back when the lead vocalist strained out a painfully wrong note. She glanced to the side to see if the person standing next to her had the same reaction or if she was the only one that had the misfortune to hear it. The blonde also looked rather displeased with the sharp wail that resonated through the sound system. 

Lena also recognized this blonde as the steer-throwing barrel-racer from back inside the bar. Suddenly Lena completely forgot about the assault on her ears that took place a few moments prior. As she stated to Eve before, this girl looked innocent, even more so up close, but Lena was willing to take the necessary precautions for whatever this person was doing. 

"Do you have an issue with me or something?" Lena leaned in to make her voice heard over the loud instrumentation coming from the nearby amp. 

The blonde was thoroughly caught off guard by Lena's question. 

"I'm sorry for gawking and being creepy, I just uh..." 

Lena watched her trail off, waiting for some unpleasant remark to spill from her mouth but she instead brought a hand up to rub the back of her neck before nervously continuing, brushing back some hair in the process. 

"I wanted to ask you something actually," The blonde in the white hat shoved her hands into the front pockets of her jeans and looked anywhere but her gaze, "I wanted to ask if yo-" 

The blonde was cut off by the singer slinging a note that he had no business being in the neighborhood of and Lena immediately became irritated by the harsh intrusion. 

"Is this band from around here? Is he always like this?" 

The blonde let out a nervous chuckle and leaned over to talk into her ear, hands no longer balled up inside the front of her pants, "That's Billy. This is his band and it does tend to get like this when he's been drinking some. If you want to hear exceptionally bad singing, you should come see the local chiropractors have their way on karaoke night." 

Lena smirked and scoffed out a laugh at the thought as the band finished their slow country swing and the music was substituted by escalating chatter as the musicians retuned their guitars for the next song. 

"I'm Kara by the way," she splayed out, not really realizing the volume of her voice with the absence of the music. 

Lena chuckled at Kara's lack of volume control, "I'm Lena," she looked up to see the guitarist switch places with the singer, "So what were you going to ask me?" 

Kara became bashful again, "I was going to ask you if," the chords to the new song were neatly strummed out through the speaker and she had to lean over to finish, "If you wanted to dance?" 

Lena could only nod in response to the proposition. Her words wouldn't be heard over the familiar lyrics anyways and she let herself be drug into Kara's personal space by the hand. Other people in the crowd around them fell into the rhythm of the tempo as well and the most intoxicated of the population started to dance without much reserve. Lena was hesitant about such things but she saw that Kara, this complete stranger, was goofing off and having a great time regardless. 

Lena saw that Kara was singing the whole song, and when it came to the chorus, the blonde didn't hold back on singing it as loud as she could. Lena could plainly hear "you can drive all night, looking for the answers in the pouring rain" being sung beautifully even through what the speakers were belting into the open air. 

When the song came to an end and all the drunks in the crowd settled down again, Lena felt a persistent and forceful prodding to her shoulder. Someone was trying to get her attention and Lena swung around to see that it was Eve. 

"Hey, I think I'm going to go back to camp, do you want a ride?" Eve tried to speak quickly in the short silence between songs but she stumbled on some words. 

"Hold on, let me just," Lena turned back and saw the blonde being led away by the same group of friends that she was around earlier. "Actually, never mind, I'm ready to go." 

Eve nodded and Lena followed closely behind, this time without the death grip on her wrist. They silently walked a block together away from the party and Lena noticed that Eve had a hard time walking straight. 

"So what did what's-her-face want?" Eve slurred out. 

Lena squinted at Eve, trying to remember if the girl had the alcohol-induced speech impediment before back in the bar. She figured the blonde slammed a few shots in the short time that they were apart. And Lena wasn't sure about what the stranger named Kara wanted either. 

"I don't know. We only ended up dancing." 

They soon stopped outside a gigantic shiny truck that was parked in the dark lot of some abandoned building and Eve fumbled with the keys outside the driver's door. 

Lena let her get the doors unlocked before interjecting, "You're not driving, give me the keys." 

Eve easily gave them up and stumbled around to the other side before slithering into the passenger seat of the immensely tall vehicle. Lena climbed in with ease and watched the girl slump down into the back of the seat. "You good?" 

Eve weakly shook her head, "No."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a rough ass time writing this and that's why it took so damn long. For whatever reason this chapter didn't agree with me and I didn't agree with it. 
> 
> I also love comments :)
> 
> thank for patience


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